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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26687881">next to you</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sirencalls/pseuds/sirencalls'>sirencalls</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Marriage, Our Memories ReddieZine, Weddings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 04:02:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,505</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26687881</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sirencalls/pseuds/sirencalls</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Standing at the altar with Eddie was infinitely more terrifying than Richie had originally thought it was going to be, but he had calculated how much he was going to sweat pretty accurately.</p>
<p>-</p>
<p>my piece for the <a href="https://reddiezine.tumblr.com">our memories reddiezine!</a></p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>59</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>next to you</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Standing at the altar with Eddie was infinitely more terrifying than Richie had originally thought it was going to be, but he had calculated how much he was going to sweat pretty accurately. His suit jacket was nice, and his deodorant was clinical, so thankfully nobody could tell. The park was empty save for their little group, standing under a flowered archway that Eddie had picked out. They had asked Mike to officiate, and the rest of the Losers were in the audience (they had all named Patty an honorary member) and Richie’s parents were sitting right in the front, holding each other and smiling. Having everyone that he loved in one room, supporting him and loving him just because they did and not because they wanted something from him… it was enough to make him want to cry.</p>
<p>That was the weird part, too. Richie had a <em> family </em> now, something he’d never really had before Mike’s phone call, and just thinking about getting married to the love of his life in front of all of his childhood friends—he supposed they were his adulthood friends now, too—had his knees going a little weak. Not to mention how absolutely amazing Eddie looked in his dark green suit, glowing in the bright spring day. He forced himself to take a deep breath. <em> Get it together, Richie, come on. </em></p>
<p>Eddie’s hands were in his, squeezing every once in a while when he saw how shaky Richie was getting. Even when they were kids, Eddie had always known just what to do and say to make Richie feel better. He wasn’t sure if it was something Eddie did consciously or if they just fit together that well as people, but he wasn’t about to test his luck. The universe had deemed him lucky enough to have all of this, to have <em> Eddie Kaspbrak</em>, and by god, he wasn’t ever going to let it go. He’d hold on tight until arthritis locked his fingers around it.</p>
<p>“You okay, Rich?” Eddie asked quietly, grabbing his attention between the anxiety running through his mind and the soothing words Mike was saying next to them. “No second thoughts, right?”</p>
<p>“Never,” Richie whispered, stroking his thumb across Eddie’s hand. The look Eddie gave him was something out of Richie’s childhood daydreams, afternoons where he would hold his own sweaty hand under the covers and ache thinking about holding Eddie’s instead. His fiance’s eyes were gleaming, his mouth tipping up into a smile and deepening the dimples in his cheeks, and Richie couldn’t help but think <em> cute, cute, cute </em> in his head like he used to when they were kids. He was just as head over heels for Eddie now as he had been back then, like all of the lost time between them had been washed away.</p>
<p>“Richie and Eddie have prepared their own vows,” Mike announced, and Richie’s heart started racing. “Richie, would you like to go first?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, uh, sure,” he replied, shuffling into his pocket to grab the slightly-crumpled piece of paper there. “But everyone has to cover their eyes so they don’t see me cry. Damn, we should have put masks under their seats, Eds, why didn’t we think of that?”</p>
<p>Their little group laughed just like Richie always intended, and as it quieted down, he cleared his throat and started reading.</p>
<p>“I know this is still hard for all of us to talk about,” he started, glancing up at his friends before gluing his eyes back to the paper. “But that summer—<em>that </em> summer—I realized a few things.”</p>
<p>He was still holding one of Eddie’s hands in his, and he knew his palms were sweaty but he figured if Eddie hadn’t backed out because of how gross he was now, then maybe he never would. That thought alone was enough to make him dizzy.</p>
<p>“The first thing I learned was that if you hit a murder clown on the head with a bat, make sure it’s all the way dead before you leave,” he joked, earning him some small laughs from their group. He always had processed trauma by joking about it, and being surrounded by people who understood was a welcome change. God, he loved his friends. “And the second thing I learned was that despite all of the jokes I made about Eddie’s mom, maybe it wasn’t her I wanted to bang.” He heard Stan scoff somewhere off to his right. “Hey, I’m going somewhere with this, I promise.”</p>
<p>He looked up and saw Eddie rolling his eyes, but he still had a fond expression on his face. Richie always considered that a win.</p>
<p>“Eddie, I was attached to you that entire summer. Whenever something scary happened, it was like I had to be right next to you to make sure you were okay. And even though I accidentally fucked your arm up a little more than it already was, it was just because I hated seeing you like that. In… in pain. And I had to try to make you better. I had to.”</p>
<p>Eddie’s eyes were wide when Richie glanced up. He’d never really told Eddie any of this because they’d been busy catching up and finding out where they fit into each other’s lives, and now that he was letting it all spill out, he couldn’t stop it.</p>
<p>“Eds, I was so in love with you then. If I thought about it too much, it hurt to breathe sometimes.” He chuckled to himself. “I thought you might have given me your asthma.” </p>
<p>His eyes were glued to the words on the page, and he thought, <em> this isn’t right</em>. He took a deep breath, one that hurt a little bit less than it used to, and put his sheet of paper down. He knew what he needed to say. </p>
<p>“Remember when you got beat up by Bowers sophomore year, and it was so bad that you legally couldn’t come to school the next day? I tried to convince my mom to let me stay with you in the hospital. I tried so hard, but she wouldn’t let me. I... I was gonna leave anyway, but I didn’t know how to get there.” His voice softened. “I loved you then, Eddie.”</p>
<p>“Rich,” Eddie whispered, and he sounded reverent. Tearing up a little, Richie kept going.</p>
<p>“All I’ve ever wanted was to be next to you. When I got to that restaurant... I didn’t know what to do with myself because I <em> knew </em>I was still in love with you. I couldn’t control it, I just wanted to be near you.” Richie paused to take a shaky breath, then continued. “I remember even as a kid, that’s all I wanted.” </p>
<p>He was staring right into Eddie’s eyes now, fighting through the tears. “I love you. I’m so in love with you, and every day, I just remember it more. I carved our initials into the kissing bridge that summer because if I couldn’t be next to you forever, then I thought at least our initials got to be. You could go off and marry someone else, build a family with them with a bunch of tiny little hypochondriatic babies—”</p>
<p>“Richie,” Mike interrupted. “We have dinner reservations.”</p>
<p>“Sorry, Mikey, just got a lot of love to share.” They all laughed a little, and Richie paused to wipe his eyes before finishing. “My point is, no matter what the circumstances, I just wanna be next to you, Eds. I love you, and the universe somehow decided that I get to be with you, and that’s all I want. We’ve been supporting and taking care of each other since the first day we met back in kindergarten. I don’t need to vow that I’ll do that. My promise to you is that—that no matter what happens, I love you. And I’ll be standing next to you.”</p>
<p>Eddie was staring at the floor, and Richie started getting worried until Eddie squeezed his hand. “Thanks for making me cry, dipshit.”</p>
<p>“We’re getting married and you’re calling me dipshit? Really?”</p>
<p>“Dinner reservations,” Mike said again, but his eyes were shining. Eddie went through his vows and made Richie cry even harder, because even though they’d been together for a year now, Richie was still shocked every day that Eddie loved him just as wholly and completely as Richie did. When Mike finally told them they could kiss, it really felt like fireworks were going off in Richie’s brain as their lips met even though he’d kissed Eddie a thousand times. </p>
<p>He almost felt like he was thirteen again, nauseously carving his initial next to Eddie’s and hoping to anyone listening that he didn’t get beat up for it, dreaming about what it would feel like to kiss Eddie. And as that fuzzy, firework feeling faded, he found that he was smiling wider than he had in a long time, and if he would have had the courage to kiss Eddie back then, it would have felt exactly like this.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>come hang out with me on <a href="http://vampdocx.tumblr.com">tumblr!</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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